Language, Consciousness, Culture: Essays on Mental StructureMIT Press, 2009 M01 23 - 432 pages An integrative approach to human cognition that encompasses the domains of language, consciousness, action, social cognition, and theory of mind that will foster cross-disciplinary conversation among linguists, philosophers, psycholinguists, neuroscientists, cognitive anthropologists, and evolutionary psychologists. Ray Jackendoff's Language, Consciousness, Culture represents a breakthrough in developing an integrated theory of human cognition. It will be of interest to a broad spectrum of cognitive scientists, including linguists, philosophers, psycholinguists, neuroscientists, cognitive anthropologists, and evolutionary psychologists. Jackendoff argues that linguistics has become isolated from the other cognitive sciences at least partly because of the syntax-based architecture assumed by mainstream generative grammar. He proposes an alternative parallel architecture for the language faculty that permits a greater internal integration of the components of language and connects far more naturally to such larger issues in cognitive neuroscience as language processing, the connection of language to vision, and the evolution of language. Extending this approach beyond the language capacity, Jackendoff proposes sharper criteria for a satisfactory theory of consciousness, examines the structure of complex everyday actions, and investigates the concepts involved in an individual's grasp of society and culture. Each of these domains is used to reflect back on the question of what is unique about human language and what follows from more general properties of the mind. Language, Consciousness, Culture extends Jackendoff's pioneering theory of conceptual semantics to two of the most important domains of human thought: social cognition and theory of mind. Jackendoff's formal framework allows him to draw new connections among a large variety of literatures and to uncover new distinctions and generalizations not previously recognized. The breadth of the approach will foster cross-disciplinary conversation; the vision is to develop a richer understanding of human nature. |
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... considers why linguistics has become intellectually isolated from the other cognitive sciences (without most linguists noticing or caring). The conclusion is that although there are undoubted sociological and historical reasons for this ...
... consider someone saying an absolutely simple sentence such as The little star's beside a big star. This is quite likely a sentence the speaker has never uttered or heard before. The speaker has constructed it to suit some present ...
... consider the subscripting that connects the structures to each other. This presents an especially complex example of the familiar binding problem in neuroscience, a term usually applied to the problem of connecting di¤erent aspects of ...
... consider phonology part of the larrow faculty. In they make clear in Fitch, Hauser, and Chomsky 2005, in response to Pinker and Jackendo¤2005. level of spatial structure. In turn, spatial structure has interfaces 16 Chapter 1.
... Consider for example language perception. Environmental input leads to the construction6 of an auditory structure. The interface that links this to phonology leads to the construction of a candidate phonological structure in working ...